The Home Invaders
"The Home Invaders" is the nineteenth episode of Miami Vice's first season. The episode premiered on March 15, 1985 and repeated on July 19, 1985 and August 8, 1986. Summary Castillo takes on Crockett's former boss and mentor trying to end a home invasion spree. Plot The Vice squad is called in for a very early morning meeting with Robbery Division, which is headed by Lt. John Malone (Jack Kehoe), Crockett's first boss and his mentor. A home invasion spree has the county in a panic and the Deputy Chief has called in all available personnel to put a stop to it before more citizens are attacked. There was an invasion the previous night involving the Taylor family, putting a woman in the hospital with electrical burns. The M.O. varies, but the homes are always occupied, and the families are brutalized in various ways. They arrive at Robbery and Crockett is reunited with Ebersole (Steven Grant) and Malone. The meeting gets underway: there have been six home invasions in eight weeks, totalling $2 million in stolen property and five injured civilians. Sgt. Hugh Heraty (Brent Jennings) provides a pamphlet detailing all Robbery has on the invasions. These invasions are similar to ones reported in Chicago, the scores varying from jewelry to cash to coin collections. The descriptions include use of hockey masks and stockings over the face, but little else. Castillo picks apart the pamphlet, noting various holes, and it becomes obvious the Robbery division is unprepared for this case. Crockett is somewhat upset by Castillo's blunt criticism. The invaders stake-out their next hit, taking pictures of the house, phone box, electrical box, street signs, people coming and going, security system, etc., showing the invasions are very well planned. Their lair is loaded with disguises and weapons. After considering the risk involved they decide not to hit the home they've just scouted. Nicky (Paul Calderon) says there are plenty of other "scores" that won't draw as much heat, and Jerry (David Patrick Kelly) agrees, but Pete Romano (Esai Morales) is disappointed, thinking the team has gotten soft and is missing out on $200K in goods. Crockett and Castillo (Tubbs took a leave of absence to spend time with Valerie Gordon in New York) visit the Taylor house and she haltingly describes what happened, including the injuries to her children. Castillo assures Mrs. Taylor they will do what they can to catch these men, and leaves a questionnaire detailing her daily activities, to fill out at the earliest opportunity. Crockett checks his contacts while Castillo pours through crime reports. They go to see Benny (Frank Pesce) at his jewelry store, knowing some of the stolen merchandise may have been sold there, but he refuses to talk. Castillo asks Gina and Trudy to let him know if any prostitutes report any johns beating on them, as Chicago police reported the same during their own home invasion spree. That night the invaders strike again, hitting an elderly couple. During the hit, a policeman comes up on the getaway car, and is killed by Romano with a silenced handgun. The elderly man was shot twice during the hit and is in the hospital. Castillo asks Malone why he didn't seal off the area after the hit, and Malone is incensed that Castillo is questioning his decisions. Crockett, surprised his former mentor has changed so, finds himself defending each lieutenant to the other. He shares Castillo's concerns that the investigation is threatened by Malone's shoddiness, but stands up for Malone out of loyalty. Crockett and Castillo go to see Gina and Trudy, who have found a prostitute beaten by someone recently, but she can't find him in the mugshot books. Castillo, Malone, Heraty and Crockett review crime reports and the questionnaires collected from the Miami hits. They confirm based on MO that the same Chicago invaders are now in Miami. After reviewing the questionnaires they determine a common thread - all the women had their hair done at Hair Emporium. Gina goes to Hair Emporium to have her hair done (under the guise of a rich woman) and has a "feeling" about the valet parking attendant - Romano. They take the prostitute to the parking lot and verify that he was the one that beat her up, so a surveillance detail is set up at the salon parking lot. Romano is observed making a copy of the keys to a blue Corvette and gathering information while the driver, Muriel Goldman (Sylvia Miles) is in the salon. When she leaves Crockett and Castillo pull her over to warn her of a possible home invasion. That night, Crockett and Castillo lie in wait at Goldman's house. The invaders head out on their hit, but manage to shake their police tail after they change cars. Crockett becomes concerned that the invaders haven't come yet, so they call OCB and speak to Muriel, who tells them she was driving her daughter's car and the info the invaders got was for her address. Crockett and Castillo speed over to her daughter's house, and they arrive just as the invasion is in progress. Castillo incapacitates the outside driver; with no time to call backup, he throws a table through a glass door, and the Vice cops storm in, shooting down all the invaders. They take Mrs. Goldman to lunch the next day. Malone stops by to give Crockett a "graduation present", a fishing pole, and tells him he has retired from the force, deciding that one sloppy case was more than he wanted on his record. Castillo found out when the Deputy Chief called him, asking his opinion about a suitable candidate to replace Malone. Castillo said he couldn't think of anyone with a comparable track record. Crockett is still stunned by his former mentor's retirement when Castillo and Malone join Muriel for lunch. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *John Diehl as Metro-Dade Detective Larry Zito *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Jack Kehoe as Metro-Dade Lieutenant John Malone *Esai Morales as Pete Romano *David Patrick Kelly as Jerry *Brent Jennings as Metro-Dade Sergeant Hugh Heraty *Paul Calderon as Nicky *Steven Grant as Metro-Dade Detective Ebersole *Frank Pesce as Benny *Sylvia Miles as Muriel Goldman Co-Starring *Kay Ingram as Mrs. Taylor *Mai-Lis Kuniholm as Sha-Sha *Nancy Valen as Lana Notes * Philip Michael Thomas was injured doing a stunt in the previous episode "Made For Each Other" and doesn't appear in this episode, his absence explained by going up to New York for a few days off with Valerie Gordon. * Crockett's "primitive but effective" groin grab was edited so as to not show the actual action (the implication is that Crockett grabbed the bouncer, Angel, in a sensitive area and threw him in a closet). * Much of Jan Hammer's music from this episode (especially when the team reviews crime reports) was reused in the Season 2 episode "Out Where the Buses Don't Run". * The scene where Gina gets her hair done at Hair Emporium shows the hairstyles popular among women in the mid-1980s. * The diner where the Vice team and Mrs. Goldman celebrate the end of the Home Invader case is still open, called JJ's American Diner. * The house where Crockett and Castillo shoot down the invaders was used again in the episode "Shadow In The Dark," as one of the houses the Shadow hits. Music *"Destination Unknown" by Sly and Robbie (Castillo and Crockett in bar and Romano shoots Miami cop during second home invasion) *"The Glamorous Life" by Sheila E. (In hair salon) Quotes *"Detective, I've seen more information on a dog-bite report! -- Castillo to Crockett about the Robbery home invasion pamphlet *"Primitive, but effective!" -- Crockett after using a groin grab to put down Angel at Benny's *"I gotta tell you, John, as a friend, he (Castillo)'s got a legitimate beef. Your crime reports are paper-thin, pal, Forensics' has got its' head where it won't see daylight...this isn't the John Malone I used to know!" -- Crockett to Malone *"One word out of you, and I'll get in and just drive away, sweetheart!" "Better yet, good night!"-- Crockett and Castillo to the outside driver at Goldman's daughter's house *"I haven't had this much fun since I watched my ex-husband file for Chapter 13!" -- Muriel Goldman *"I showed you when to take the gun out of your holster, now, let me show you when it's time to put it on the shelf!" -- Malone to Crockett after telling him he was retiring Category:Miami Vice Season 1 Episodes